Vehicle monitoring system with automatic driver identification

Abstract

A vehicle monitoring system includes at least one sensor in the vehicle. A processor receiving information from the at least one sensor, the processor programmed to automatically identify a driver of the vehicle based upon the information from the at least one sensor.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A vehicle monitoring system comprising:
 at least one sensor in the vehicle, wherein the at least one sensor monitors driving behavior and generates driving behavior information; 
 a processor receiving the driving behavior information from the at least one sensor over a plurality of journeys by an unknown number of distinct drivers, the processor programmed to automatically determine the number of distinct drivers of the vehicle based upon the driving behavior information from the at least one sensor. 
 
     
     
       2. The vehicle monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein the processor receives the driving behavior information during a plurality of journeys of the vehicle. 
     
     
       3. The vehicle monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein the at least one sensor includes a plurality of sensors. 
     
     
       4. The vehicle monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein the processor receives driving behavior information from a plurality of sensors in a plurality of vehicles, including the at least one sensor in the vehicle, and wherein the processor is programmed to determine the identity of one of the distinct drivers of the vehicle based upon the driving behavior information from more than one vehicle. 
     
     
       5. The vehicle monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein the processor is programmed to cluster journeys based upon driving behavior information from the at least one sensor during each journey. 
     
     
       6. The vehicle monitoring system of  claim 5  wherein the processor is programmed to determine that a cluster of journeys was driven by the identified a first driver based upon the driving behavior information from the at least one sensor. 
     
     
       7. The vehicle monitoring system of  claim 6  wherein the processor is programmed to determine that a new journey was driven by the identified first driver based upon the driving behavior information from the at least one sensor and based upon the driving behavior information in the cluster of journeys. 
     
     
       8. The vehicle monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein the at least one sensor includes at least one of: a gps receiver, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a compass and an on-board diagnostic port. 
     
     
       9. A method for automatically determining the identity of a driver of a vehicle including the steps of:
 a) receiving at a processor information from at least one vehicle, wherein the information includes driving behavior information; 
 b) automatically determining the identity of a driver of the vehicle in the processor based upon the driving behavior information from the at least one vehicle and based upon weather context of the driving behavior information. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9  further including the step of receiving the driving behavior information during a plurality of journeys of the at least one vehicle. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 9  wherein the information from the at least one vehicle is from a plurality of sensors. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 9  wherein the processor receives driving behavior information from a plurality of sensors in a plurality of vehicles, including the at least one sensor in the vehicle, and wherein the processor is programmed to determine the identity of the driver of the vehicle based upon the driving behavior information from more than one vehicle. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 9  wherein said step a) includes the step of receiving the driving behavior information over a plurality of journeys by the vehicle and clustering journeys based upon driving behavior information from the at least one vehicle during each journey. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13  further including the step of determining that a cluster of journeys was driven by the identified driver based upon the driving behavior information from the at least one vehicle. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14  further including the step of determining that a new journey was driven by the identified driver based upon the driving behavior information from the at least one vehicle and based upon the driving behavior information in the cluster of journeys. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 9  wherein the step of determining the identity of the driver is also based upon a schedule of the driver. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 9  wherein said step b) is performed without reference to any existing knowledge regarding the driver. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 9  wherein the driving behavior information includes speed. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 9  wherein the driving behavior information includes acceleration. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 9  wherein the driving behavior information includes braking. 
     
     
       21. A method for automatically determining the identity of a plurality of drivers of a vehicle including the steps of:
 a) receiving at a processor driving behavior information from the vehicle during each of a plurality of journeys; 
 b) automatically clustering the plurality of journeys into a plurality of clusters based upon the driving behavior information from each journey; and 
 c) determining a number of distinct drivers based upon said step b). 
 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 21  further including the steps of:
 d) receiving driving behavior information from a new journey; 
 e) comparing the driving behavior information from the new journey to the driving behavior information from the plurality of journeys in the plurality of clusters; and 
 f) determining that the new journey was by a new driver based upon said step e).